Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 24th May
Abbot Paul • May 23, 2022
Message from Fr Paul for Tuesday, 24th May 2022
At Belmont today we celebrate the feast of the Dedication of the cathedral church of the diocese, in our case the Archdiocese of Cardiff. It’s a bit of an anomaly that Herefordshire still belongs to a Welsh diocese while being a quintessential English border county. It should be remembered, however, that much of this county south of the Wye remained ethically and linguistically Welsh well into the 18th century. For this reason, it became part of the Welsh region of the Catholic Church when this was created in 1840 with Bishop Thomas Joseph Brown, a monk of Downside, as Vicar Apostolic. In 1850 he was appointed first Bishop of Newport and Menevia (the Latin for Wales), but had no cathedral church. When Belmont was built during the 1850s, he accepted it from the founder, Francis Richard Wegg-Prosser, to be the cathedral of the diocese. And so it remained until 1916, when the see was transferred to Cardiff and the parish church of St David chosen to be the new cathedral. For just four years Belmont was the co-cathedral, until it became an abbey in 1920. Today, then, we celebrate the Dedication of the Cathedral Church of St David in Cardiff.
After that rather long historic introduction, just a few words follow about the Gospel read everywhere else, again taken from John, (Jn 16: 5-11), being the continuation of yesterday’s passage. Jesus has told his disciples that he will send them the Holy Spirit, the Advocate or Paraclete, that proceeds from the Father. He goes on to explain how the Spirit will come and why. One thing is clear: the Spirit’s coming necessitates his own leaving them, at least in the physical form of his body.
“I must tell you the truth:
it is for your own good that I am going
because unless I go,
the Advocate will not come to you;
but if I do go,
I will send him to you.”
Jesus will return to the Father, taking his body with him, at his Ascension, but with the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus will always be with his disciples spiritually until the end of time. This is what we believe and hold firm to today. Jesus is with us because it is the Holy Spirit who makes that possible, just as in all the sacraments, it is the Spirit who makes Christ present. An excellent example of this is the Eucharist. It is through the Holy Spirit that the bread and wine become transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus and that we are transformed into Christ through the Spirit’s indwelling in our souls. The Spirit also enlightens us in our faith and guides the Church always to discern the will of God. Today the Lord is giving us the opportunity of praying for our young people who are preparing for Confirmation. They will soon become temples of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit will always teach them the truth, if they but open their hearts to him.
From Francis to Leo: A special event with Christopher Lamb of CNN in conversation with Austin Ivereigh who commentated for the BBC on the transition from Pope Francis to Pope Leo.
On 12th June an Ecumenical Service was held at Hereford Cathedral to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea.
Archbishop Mark O'Toole, of Cardiff-Menevia presided at the Requiem Mass for Bishop Mark, while Abbot Brendan conducted his burial. Cardinal Vincent Nichols preached a homily full of warmth and affection for Bishop Mark which is reproduced below.
Bishop Mark Jabalé OSB RIP Given at his funeral by Dom Alexander Kenyon Baby Jean Pierre (Mark) Jabale was born on October 16th, 1933, in Alexandria, Egypt. As he said, himself, his background could be considered “cosmopolitan”: his father was Lebanese / French and his Mother, British / Greek / French. He also reminded people that he wasn’t Egyptian. Through his mother, Arlette, he was related to St. Jean Vianney, so it was, perhaps, no surprise that he followed in his priestly footsteps. His father, Jean, was MD of Fiat and Simca cars Europe and, maybe surprisingly or not, he did love a car – not, however, Italian cars, but German; he loved his Audis. Perhaps we should begin today by remembering his mother and father, his brothers Christian and Paul and his nieces, here today, Aline and Nathalie and Isabelle and their families – they were so dear to him and he to them and I know they miss him enormously. Young Jean wanted to join the Navy and came to England, to Belmont Abbey school but the Lord had other ideas – he ended up joining the rather land locked monastery, our dear, late Fr. Raymund opining that he wouldn’t last a month. After a rather uninspiring course of priestly studies (his words, not mine) he studied for a Licentiate in French literature in Fribourg, then a Dip Ed at Strawberry Hill and played Rugby there – the Papist Witch Doctor as he was affectionately known. Teaching followed, at Belmont, Housemaster, acting Headmaster, then to Alderwasley, our prep school in Derbyshire as Headmaster, and then back to Belmont soon after as Headmaster. In 1983 he went to Peru to build our first monastery there only to realise there was little money. So, he returned to the UK to put in a stint of fundraising with his usual zeal and determination. With his mission accomplished he was asked by Abbot Alan to return to Belmont as his prior in 1986 – Peru remained close to his heart. In 1993 he was elected Abbot. In his time as Abbot, he had to preside over the closure of the school, necessary but no less painful for him. In 2000 he was appointed coadjutor Bishop of Menevia and succeeded Bishop Mullins in 2001. He retired as Ordinary in 2008 and “retired” to Chipping Norton as parish priest, then Hendon, saying Mass for the nuns and helping with confirmations. After a spell at Archbishop’s House, Westminster, living with his great friend Cardinal Nichols, he came home to Belmont – it was as though he had never been away and he loved being back in the monastery, particularly praying the Office with the community. That’s the list, of sorts, but it doesn’t really say “who” he was. I haven’t mentioned his outstanding contribution to rowing – the 1979 coxless, lightweight four gold medal at the world championships in Bled, which almost didn’t happen as, at the last minute, he was told there was no money to send the crew. He begged, cajoled and got them there – the video footage of the final is compelling. He transformed Henley Royal Regatta, writing a computer programme for the race results – he was well ahead of his time. He coached the Oxford Boat, ran the Heads of the River Schools Regatta, and more. What an achievement from someone who had never sat in a boat but learned on the job, as he said, “from books, mainly”. It was his determination, his commitment, his love of people and his drive to share what he had that is, perhaps, one of the key things to celebrate about him. And it was underpinned by his rock-solid faith – nothing overly pious, nothing showy, but a faith and a love of the Lord built on granite. Even his occasional lack of patience (sorry Mark) extended to that faith; ‘why won’t God call me?”. At the risk of being irreverent my response was always “would you want you?”. But God did want him, and he knew it. God had a purpose for his Apostle during his life and he now rests with Him in eternity. His purpose was, simply, to bring the joy of the Lord into the lives of others, in many and varied ways. A few weeks before Mark died, Pope Francis died. When the late Pope was seriously ill the son of friends of mine who entertained Mark and I to lunch regularly, was distraught at overhearing mum and dad say the Pope may die. He couldn’t stop crying. “But darling”, they said, “you don’t know the Pope, why so very sad?”. “We do know him” came the reply, “it’s Mark”. “No, Mark isn’t the Pope”. “Oh, so when the Pope does die will Mark be Pope then?”. Mark loved that one. When Mark himself did die said son would only be pacified by picking flowers from the garden and bringing them to church for him. He wanted to show how much Mark meant to him and wanted to give a little something back. That is the real biography – a man loved, respected, a man who shared what he had, above all his faith, a man who touched so many lives and made them better.  Rest in peace our dear friend.
Our brethren in Peru were delighted with the election of Pope Leo.
